Diwali: Supreme Court ruling goes up in smoke

Posted November 8th, 2018, 10:05 AM IST

BENGALURU: Local vendors dealing in festival supplies didn’t have a cracker of a time. People living away from their families, rushed schedules and a stream of enticements from e-retailers saw online sales soar. Diwali has brought with it much festive cheer for e-commerce giants, which have seen a collective surge in sales.

With cheaper, quicker options, more people have chosen to shop online, instead of the traditional festive spree. Discounts and offers helped, of course and giants like Amazon and Flipkart have offered these in plenty.

Siddharth Nambiar, Head of Prime Now, India said, "We added sweets and chocolates to our selection, which has over 10,000 products, Customers have options ranging from Cadbury gift packs to offerings by popular mithai brands."

"Quick delivery ensures the sweets don't go bad before delivery, a major customer concern," said Neha Sachdeva, an HR professional. Amazon's The Great Indian Festival 2018, one of their biggest celebrations of the year, saw a mega rush. "Groceries saw a 3x growth, followed by brands like Maggi, Nescafe, curated Cadbury gift packs and dry fruit," said a spokesperson from Amazon India.

Vendors hit:
Local salesmen are less upbeat. Rangappa, a vendor at Malleswaram, says, "The number of pre-Diwali orders I get has been on the declie. Earlier, I would sell over 700 items, including diyas, tiffin sets, plates and bowls but now I barely get orders for 300 items. People who don't have the time to shop prefer to buy online and this has drastically affected our business."

Meanwhile, with regard to the SC ruling, the police had urged the public to post pictures of violation on social media, which will be forwarded to the jurisdictional police station for action.

Communities join hands for cleanup drive
To ensure cleanliness after Diwali celebrations, a youth organisation is planning to carry out a cleanliness drive in Jayanagar on Thursday morning. The youth association of Ahmadiyya Muslim Community will clean Jayanagar 4th block of cracker debris, flowers, banana leaves and other pooja items.

Kaleemullah, a member of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community said, "We will join hands with our brothers from other communities and take out a cleanliness drive under the motto ‘Love for All, Hatred for None’. This is to make sure that awareness is created by keeping our city clean, as it is important to keep our surrounding clean to lead a healthy life.”

He also added that similar such drives are being carried out by his organisation across the country on Thursday. Another member, on condition of anonymity, said, “These days we are often hearing that our Garden City has been turned into a ‘garbage city’ and we should take up the responsibility and ensure that the city is kept clean. It is our brothers who celebrate Diwali and it is our duty to clean up the roads and streets, as they are used by everyone. We always cannot wait or depend on the civic agencies to clean up our roads. At least once in a while, we the citizens should take up cleanliness drive.”

“People of all age groups taking part and through this drive we will also be spreading the message on ways to keep our city clean and also protect the environment,” he added. He also mentioned that in the coming years they will spread the cleanliness drive across all areas in the city to ensure that Bengaluru is clean and green again.

Cops unable to implement SC cracker rule
The city police have failed to implement the Supreme Court order regarding a time slot for people to burst crackers. Though they had fixed 8 pm to 10 pm slot, people were seen bursting crackers all through the day.

A senior police officer said they have so far they registered no complaints against people for violating the rule. He said, “We will consult with the police commissioner and take further action.”